Car sales register steep decline in May in coronavirus
NEW DELHI: After dispatching zero vehicles in April, carmakers have a 80-90 per cent year-on-year fall in domestic sales on an avergae in May— a historic low figure — as factories operated at limited capacity and showrooms in majority of cities remained closed.
Total sales of Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest carmaker, fell 86.23 per cent to 18,539 units in May as against 1,34,641 units sold in the same month last year. Domestic sales declined by 88.93 per cent y-o-y to 13,888 units. The company said it has resumed its manufacturing operations post lockdown, in accordance with the government guidelines.
Similarly, Hyundai India also reported 83.8 per cent fall in domestic sales to 6,883 units as against 42,502 units in May 2019. It’s total sales, including exports, fell by 78.7 per cent to 12,583 units in May.
While a lot was talked about pent-up demand to boost sales, the scenario on ground was different. Despite OEMs, in partnership with banks, rushed to provide easy financing options, poor economic forecast, record fall in consumption and massive job cuts put off buyers from making big purchases.
Veejay Nakra, chief executive officer, automotive division, M&M said, “Our performance during May has been muted, due to the challenges the industry is facing. We have opened 70 per cent of our dealerships and sales have begun. We are seeing initial traction for our small commercial vehicles and SUV brands such as the Bolero and Scorpio.” Mahindra sold 3,867 units of passenger vehicles last month, down 81 per cent year-on-year. Toyota Kirloskar also reported 86.49 per cent decline in domestic sales at 1,639 units in May.
According to Rakesh Sidana, director, sales, MG Motor India, supply chain disruption coupled with stricter credit financing along with non-operation of some dealerships due to the lockdown have impacted our sales in May. The company on Monday said it has recorded just 710 retail sales in May 2020.
Manpower woes
The production loss notwithstanding, MG Motor India’s front-end retail operations continue to operate with less-than-normal staff strength, said Rakesh Sidana, director, sales, of the company.